With only a demo and EP as their back catalogue, Bölzer presents us yet another example of how bands are supposed to cut all the fat and leave only precious meat. Like the previous releases, Soma is an intense EP. It's full of writhing masses of glorious riffs that combine melody and dissonance. With thundering vocals and imposing drumming, the result is nothing less than awe-inspiring. Make a mental note for these guys, for we might have a modern classic on the rising.

So, a naked mom with the baby in her hands, scattered blood all over the room, ... Yeah, it must be brutal as fuck. And it is. Once more, the dear fellas from Benighted won't be sparing your pussy ears with some childish lullabies, but they'd rather tear down the ''Berlin'' wall with a mixture of their aggressive impulse, groovy sections and unstoppable grinding. All this coated with more death metal vibe and fulfilled with an extraordinary vocal execution. Insanity is guaranteed.

New forms and impressions of the genre come and go, but indomitable death metal persists in no purer form than it does here. As recent representatives of a traditional approach, Dead Congregation are no mere upstarts in a scene taking great pride in the genre's time-tested format, and their latest effort guarantees death metal mature and unrelenting.

Fallujah truly exploded into maturity on this one. The atmosphere transcends beauty, while the metal transcends brutality. The Flesh Prevails represents the culmination of seven years of experimentation, growth, and hard work, but hopefully just the first step in a grand new era for Fallujah. Meticulously melding together finely-crafted bursts of savage technicality with mellow, enrapturing passages of atmospheric construction, Fallujah unleash their true potential on The Flesh Prevails.

Now that thing hit us like a brick in the face. If you want dynamic, versatile old-school death metal that features all kinds of tempos, you will most probably fall in love with Ecdysis. Natural drum sounds, virtuoso bass and guitars await the listener, nothing like the simple "only sluggish or lightning fast" stuff heard too often nowadays. Give this album a spin and Horrendous will make your day. But be careful, highly addictive!

If there's one extreme metal album that is required listening from 2014, The Killing Gods is probably it. Misery Index are above the need for special introductions, as the material speaks for itself. The band's fifth album in more than 10 years of grinding, The Killing Gods combines everything the legendary American quartet is known for, and then some: brutality, ferocity, technicality, and a more focused sense of melody. A harrowing release for the heretics, for sure.

If you've been paying attention to the death metal scene in the 2010s, you'd know that there seems to be a growing trend of new bands who seem hell-bent on updating the old school sound we know and love with their own fresh, modern twists. Morbus Chron want in on this action, and with Sweven, their sophomore effort, they're certainly breaking through the gates. Enhancing the death metal sound with a dreamlike melody, and musical complexity that hints at progressive influence, with this album the band succeed in both paying tribute to the roots of death metal, while also branching off beyond some of its more rigid confines.

Death is a supersized slab of ugly, raw blackened death metal. Frenzied riffs occasionally give way to some catchy thrash, but for the most part this release was made with the intent of sonically battering and abusing the listener and anyone else within earshot.

No Paweł, no problem! Churning out yet another display of death metal done right, these Polish heavyweights poured every ounce of their veteran blood into bringing their old school thrash-infused brand of brutality up to date with some silky smooth melodies and characteristically catchy riffs. Tibi Et Igni is yet another reminder why Vader remain relevant among longtime listeners and newcomers alike, providing professionalism and consistency rivaled by very few others in the scene.

Do you like your death metal to be old-school and Swedish? This is the right place for you, since Vanhelgd, with their third studio effort Relics Of Sulphur Salvation, provides all the best this genre has to offer. The guitars are thick and deadly and the vocals, blasphemous. Hands down, their best work to date.